Jeeg: Temporal Constraints for the Synchronization of Concurrent Objects

We introduce Jeeg, a dialect of Java based on a declarative replacement of the synchronization mechanisms of Java that results in a complete decoupling of the 'business' and the 'synchronization' code of classes. Synchronization constraints in Jeeg are expressed in a linear temporal logic which allows to effectively limit the occurrence of the inheritance anomaly that commonly affects concurrent object oriented languages. Jeeg is inspired by the current trend in aspect oriented languages. In a Jeeg program the sequential and concurrent aspects of object behaviors are decoupled: specified separately by the programmer these are then weaved together by the Jeeg compiler

Higher-Order Process Modeling: Product-Lining, Variability Modeling and Beyond

We present a graphical and dynamic framework for binding and execution of business) process models. It is tailored to integrate 1) ad hoc processes modeled graphically, 2) third party services discovered in the (Inter)net, and 3) (dynamically) synthesized process chains that solve situation-specific tasks, with the synthesis taking place not only at design time, but also at runtime. Key to our approach is the introduction of type-safe stacked second-order execution contexts that allow for higher-order process modeling. Tamed by our underlying strict service-oriented notion of abstraction, this approach is tailored also to be used by application experts with little technical knowledge: users can select, modify, construct and then pass (component) processes during process execution as if they were data. We illustrate the impact and essence of our framework along a concrete, realistic (business) process modeling scenario: the development of Springer's browser-based Online Conference Service (OCS). The most advanced feature of our new framework allows one to combine online synthesis with the integration of the synthesized process into the running application. This ability leads to a particularly flexible way of implementing self-adaption, and to a particularly concise and powerful way of achieving variability not only at design time, but also at runtime.Comment: In Proceedings Festschrift for Dave Schmidt, arXiv:1309.455

COST Action IC 1402 ArVI: Runtime Verification Beyond Monitoring -- Activity Report of Working Group 1

This report presents the activities of the first working group of the COST Action ArVI, Runtime Verification beyond Monitoring. The report aims to provide an overview of some of the major core aspects involved in Runtime Verification. Runtime Verification is the field of research dedicated to the analysis of system executions. It is often seen as a discipline that studies how a system run satisfies or violates correctness properties. The report exposes a taxonomy of Runtime Verification (RV) presenting the terminology involved with the main concepts of the field. The report also develops the concept of instrumentation, the various ways to instrument systems, and the fundamental role of instrumentation in designing an RV framework. We also discuss how RV interplays with other verification techniques such as model-checking, deductive verification, model learning, testing, and runtime assertion checking. Finally, we propose challenges in monitoring quantitative and statistical data beyond detecting property violation

Just below the surface: developing knowledge management systems using the paradigm of the noetic prism

In this paper we examine how the principles embodied in the paradigm of the noetic prism can illuminate the construction of knowledge management systems. We draw on the formalism of the prism to examine three successful tools: frames, spreadsheets and databases, and show how their power and also their shortcomings arise from their domain representation, and how any organisational system based on integration of these tools and conversion between them is inevitably lossy. We suggest how a late-binding, hybrid knowledge based management system (KBMS) could be designed that draws on the lessons learnt from these tools, by maintaining noetica at an atomic level and storing the combinatory processes necessary to create higher level structure as the need arises. We outline the “just-below-the-surface” systems design, and describe its implementation in an enterprise-wide knowledge-based system that has all of the conventional office automation features

Refactoring Legacy JavaScript Code to Use Classes: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

JavaScript systems are becoming increasingly complex and large. To tackle the challenges involved in implementing these systems, the language is evolving to include several constructions for programming- in-the-large. For example, although the language is prototype-based, the latest JavaScript standard, named ECMAScript 6 (ES6), provides native support for implementing classes. Even though most modern web browsers support ES6, only a very few applications use the class syntax. In this paper, we analyze the process of migrating structures that emulate classes in legacy JavaScript code to adopt the new syntax for classes introduced by ES6. We apply a set of migration rules on eight legacy JavaScript systems. In our study, we document: (a) cases that are straightforward to migrate (the good parts); (b) cases that require manual and ad-hoc migration (the bad parts); and (c) cases that cannot be migrated due to limitations and restrictions of ES6 (the ugly parts). Six out of eight systems (75%) contain instances of bad and/or ugly cases. We also collect the perceptions of JavaScript developers about migrating their code to use the new syntax for classes.Comment: Paper accepted at 16th International Conference on Software Reuse (ICSR), 2017; 16 page